New Year Trip to GOA !!

GOA!! Everyone makes plans to visit this place, at least once in their bachelor life. But it is easier said than done as it is one thing to plan, but executing that plan is another thing. I had also made plans to visit Goa earlier but it could not have been materialized due to some or the other reason. And in this new year 2024, I had no plans as usual till mid December and I was only trying to figure out some plans.

One day I got a call from one of my college friends Nitesh who had moved to Pune for the first time. After talking for some time, I asked him if he has any plans for new year but he also didn't have any concrete plan as such. Before hanging up the phone, I said that maybe we can celebrate new year in Pune itself and I will look for some shows or concerts happening in the city. The next day, I was searching for the same on BookMyShow when the Sunburn Festival event happening in Goa popped up at the top. Now I had heard of this festival earlier but didn't have much idea. So I checked the details and found that this is Asia's biggest music festival (EDM music to be precise) which is held almost every year in Goa. When I discussed this plan with Nitesh, he immediately agreed and then we started to chalk out our plan for this. Normally the Sunburn festival spans out over a period of four days but we decided to attend it on 30th Dec only.

In next one week, I did all the flight, hotel bookings and also booked the ticket for this Sunburn festival. For the Sunburn, we booked the VIP ticket since we didn't want to miss out on any luxury. We had only two days for this trip so I made a rough itinerary according to this.

Day 0 - On 29th Dec, our flight from Mumbai to Goa was at 10 PM and we reached the Mumbai airport well in time only to find that our flight was delayed. However, after doing the check-in and other formalities, we went to the lounge where luckily there was a lucrative offer on ICICI bank credit card and we both had the ICICI bank card. So we enjoyed the buffet at just 2Rs. The food was pretty okay but if you are getting this almost free, you should not complain. 😁

Finally our flight departed at almost midnight and we reached the Dabolim International airport, Goa in approx. one hour. After collecting the luggage from the conveyor belt, I switched on my mobile to book taxi to go to our hotel (which was around 40 kms from the airport) only to realize that both Ola and Uber are non existent here. Later we would come to know that the taxi operators have a union in Goa and they don't let these cab aggregator services like Ola and Uber to run here. We had no other option than to book a taxi at the prepaid center and to our shock, it would cost us 1850 Rs. just for those 40 kms. This exorbitant fare was nothing compared to what we were going to experience in the subsequent days. It was already past midnight and any other option didn't look feasible so we booked the taxi and finally reached our hotel. After settling ourselves in the room, we immediately went to sleep as we were very tired from the journey.

Day 1 - So it was 30th Dec and we had planned to go to Baga/Calangute beach and also if time permits, to a virtual reality (VR) amusement centre which was nearby. Now conveyance was a major problem and we knew that reserving a taxi would be too expensive. When we asked the hotel manager, he suggested that government buses run on a regular basis and we would get a bus to Mapusa bus stand from here. And Mapusa being the central bus stand, we can easily get buses from there to almost every part of North Goa. So this was a pretty affordable option and after waiting for 15-20 mins we got a bus which was going in that direction. In this way, we reached the Calangute bus stand. We had to get down here and when we checked the Google maps, the amusement center was around 3 kms away. We took an auto from there to reach our destination. Now it was a small area where you can play VR games and there were different games like virtual cricket, bowling, shooting, car racing etc. It was not worth it but we decided to take the minimum package as we had already spent so much time and effort to come here. The package was 500/- for two games per head. It was quite fun at the end, better than what we had expected.

From there, we had to go to Baga beach which was around 1.6 kms from here. So we decided to walk but it was not easy due to the scorching heat in Goa even in the month of December. Anyways, we reached Baga beach and it was pretty much crowded even at this odd hour in the afternoon. It was quite uncomfortable to stand under the sun so we decided to occupy a shack which belonged to a nearby restaurant. In this way, we got some shade and sat there comfortably. Now you can't sit there without ordering something so we ordered some food & beverages and enjoyed the view there. When the rays of the sun descend on the vast expanse of the sea, it creates a sparkling effect. The waves of the sea ripple in ecstasy, their crests adorned with glistening jewels of sunlight. This would have been a more pleasant experiece during sunrise or sunset but nevertheless, this was also totally worth it. After sitting there for almost one hour, we went near the shore and clicked some pictures.

At baga beach -

We already had our lunch and we had to attend the Sunburn festival also in the evening so we decided to come back to our hotel. Now this festival was happening near the Vagator beach which was around 15 kms from our hotel. There was not an option of going by bus as buses operate only during the day time. So we asked the taxi driver whose contact no. was provided to us by the hotel receptionist. He quoted 1000 Rs. for going there and by this time, we had already made peace with the fact that this is going to be expensive. So I asked him to come by 4 PM and the destination was at a one hour distance from there. We got ready and wore our bands (provided by BookMyShow) that was mandatory for the festival. Now depending on the tickets you have booked, you get these bands which you need to show at the security when you enter the venue of Sunburn festival.

We reached the venue at about 5.30-6.00 in the evening as there was a lot of traffic jam in that area. Once we crossed the security and entered inside, the view was spectacular. The whole venue was crowded with people and the theme of this festival was 'Enchanted Forest'. I guess it was related to the theme of the stage setup. It was so much crowded that it was overwhelming at first to figure out where was our destined spot since we had purchased VIP tickets. Now there are three type of tickets mainly, first is the GA (general) ticket which is the least expensive. Then you have the VIP ticket which is more expensive and the advantage of that is you have an elevated platform from where VIP ticket holders can enjoy the event. In addition to this, there is a direct access to food and beverages stall, and also washrooms available within the VIP area. Now above this, there is a third category of ticket which is the Fanpit area which is the most expensive. Fanpit has all the facilities of VIP, on top of that it is very close to the stage and hence the view from there is even more amazing.

Finally we were able to spot the VIP entry and we scanned our bands at the security to go inside. The party had already reached its peak as an artist named DJ Timmy Trumpet was performing. Now no offense to anyone who is an EDM fan, but I don't have even a slight interest in this EDM or jazz music, whatever you call it. And same goes for my friend, we even didn't know the names of the artists performing there. So although the music performance was not of our taste, but we enjoyed the vibe there and danced like crazy. The stage setup was beautiful and the ambience was simply mesmerizing. After the first performance was over, there was another artist named Hardwell who graced the stage. And by the noise and the manner in which the crowd went crazy, we knew he is some renowned and world famous artist who must be having a lot of fan following. Later I googled about him to find that he is a Dutch DJ and music producer and has been voted as world's number one DJ in 2013 and then again in 2014. By this time, the atmosphere was totally crazy and the fireworks and light show added more to the elegnace of this beautiful evening.

This was the main stage at the Sunburn -

Finally the event ended around 10 PM in the night and the crowd started dispersing. But the streets were jam packed when all these 1.5 lakh people came out at once. Yes, this sounds unbelievable but there were around 1.5 lakh attendees who had come from all over the world to attend this festival. So it took us more than half an hour just to cross that street which was overcrowded to the point of being scary. However, we finally came to a point where we could stand comfortably and decide now what was the best way to reach our hotel. Now the taxi driver who had dropped us had promised that if we call him, he will come to pick us up. But when my friend called him, he said he is not in town currently which was likely an excuse. When we contacted the person who had given his contact, he said that all the cab drivers are busy and no one would agree to come to that location because of the intense traffic jam. We had no other option than to rely on fate now. So we kept walking for about more than 2 kms but there was not even a single auto available. Finally we asked a policemen who was standing there if we could get some conveyance here to go to our hotel which was still 12 kms from where we were right now. He suggested that there is a hotel ahead and we could be lucky to find some taxis there. So we walked about 100 metres and noticed the hotel to our left side. We initiated a conversation with a person standing there who was apparently a staff from the hotel. He said that it's very difficult to get a taxi today due to the huge demand and even if any taxi driver agrees, he will demand an insane amount of money. I asked him to check anyways as we didn't have any other option at that time. He called the driver whom he knew and after listening to him, told us that he is asking for 2200 Rs. I was like WTF!!! 2200/- for just 12 kms. What kind of scam is this? 😂 We tried to negotiate with him but he was adamant on 2200 for dropping us to our location. After 10 mins of long discussion, we finally agreed as that was the only feasible option given the circumstances and it was already midnight. 

Anyways, the driver came in 15 mins and dropped us to our hotel. Although this 12 km ride had been too expensive for us, we were finally relieved that we had reached our hotel. We stayed awake for some time, making plans for the next day and then finally went to sleep at around 1.30 AM.

Day 2 - It was 31st Dec, the last day of 2023 and we woke up in the morning around 7 AM, got ready and left the hotel at around 8.30 after having a cup of masala chai. For today, we had planned to visit Panjim which is in central Goa, and then Arambol beach. In the evening, we had our plans to celebrate the new year in one of the clubs adjacent to the Morjem beach.

So first we took a bus to Mapusa Bus stand and from there we took a bus to Panjim bus stand. Now our main destination was Fontainhas, which is famous for its narrow lanes full of colourful Portugese houses with balconies and red-tiled roofs. It's one of the most Instagrammable spots in Goa and there are also some cafes and bakeries which serve local dishes. So after getting down at Panjim bus stand, we walked for around 1.5 - 2 kms to reach Fontainhas and it was very peaceful and serene, to describe it in one word. We also had breakfast in one of the hotels which was a buffet basically, and all the food items were really good. After that, we just strolled across the streets of Fontainhas, enjoying the Portugese style of architecture villas and homes. At the same time, we clicked multiple photos and captured the beauty of that place in our mobile phones, as well as in our heart.

At Fontainhas -

Next, we took a bus to Arambol beach which was our next destination. This beach was even more beautiful than the Baga beach and the waves were more intense here. Again due to the scorching heat of the sun, we had to take shade in one of the restaurants near to the shore. We stayed there for about 2 hours and before leaving, we took a stroll from one end to the other end of the beach. This beach also remains crowded specially during new year and you will find more foreigners here specifically as compared to other beaches like Baga beach and Calangute beach.

Finally we returned to our hotel at around 4 PM to take some rest before going to 'The White Goa' club to celebrate the new year evening. While we were able to travel in bus during the daytime, conveyance becomes a problem after sunset since the buses don't operate. We had got the contact no. of an auto driver somehow and we called him for going to the our destination which was around 14-15 kms from our hotel. He quoted 1000 Rs. which seemed pretty reasonable to us by now😒 (especially after spending 2200/- for 12 kms that previous night).

We reached 'The White Goa' at around 6.30-7.00 PM and I was quite excited to see the venue. During the time of booking, I knew this was an open air party, but little did I know that we would have access to the Morjem beach directly. So there was this open seating area decorated beautifully and behind us was the beach itself. We had booked the tickets already for this through BookMyShow which was 3000/- per head. And it had full cover charge for food and beverages. The food we ordered was premium quality and totally worth it. Right from honey chilli potatao to amritsari fish tikka, everything was as good as it could be. Time flew by before we could realise and the clock struck 12.

Just as midnight arrived, people gathered at the beach and we also followed. There was a lot of fireworks in the sky which was a treat to watch. In front of us, the music and DJ had also reached its peak. This was a perfect setup to celebrate the new year. We also called the auto driver and asked him to come around 12.30. But he said that he had got one more customer at that time and he could manage till 2-2.30 only. After thinking for a bit, we told him that we would call if needed. After enjoying the fireworks for about 15-20 mins, we went to the dance floor where everyone was dancing & celebrating, having forgotten all their worries and miseries of life, at least for this night. And here we enjoyed even more than the sunburn festival. In sunburn, since EDM music was not our cup of tea, dancing to the beats seemed difficult as there was no feel. But here, desi bollywood songs were being played which we all hear often. So we danced for almost an hour until I checked the time and it was 1.30 AM. I stepped aside to call the auto driver and asked him to come to the location to which he agreed. (That's another thing he charged 500 extra this time saying he had to stay awake till this late but at this point of time, we hardly cared about the money). So after half an hour, he reached the location and we stepped out of the club to go back to our hotel. Overall, it was a very memorable new year eve that we will remember for years to come.

Day 3 - Next morning, we had to checkout of our hotel and me and my friend parted ways. For me, I had my flight to Mumbai from North Goa airport and then I would take a cab from Mumbai to Pune subsequently. My friend had to take a bus from Goa to Mumbai in the evening and he had a flight to catch the next morning from Mumbai to go to his hometown to attend a family function. So this summed up our trip to Goa which was a short but sweet trip and although it was very expensive due to the New year time and last minute bookings, still we enjoyed every moment of it.

And now we are finally in 2024. I wish to travel more this year, gather more such enriching experiences, and to see the diverse culture and tradition of India. On that note, wishing happiness and prosperity for each one of us in 2024.

How AI models like Chat GPT can impact our future?

Chat GPT is something which has become the talk of the town recently, specially in the tech domain. Unless you are living under a rock, you must have at least heard of it. In short, it is a chatbot that was launched by Open AI in November 2022 and it is still in the Beta phase. As per a blog from open AI company, they have trained this model using Reinforcement Learning From Human Feedback (RLFH). This chatbot learns from the human responses and has a memory of its own to remember your preferences and the details you provide. Now before diving further, I will recommend you to try this if you haven't tried yet. Here is the link - https://chat.openai.com/chat

I tried quite a few things with it and this AI model is just impressive. And not to forget this is just in the starting phase and it will get better and better in the upcoming versions. To start with, you can ask Chat GPT to write an article, an essay or even a blog. Now let me clarify I am not using Chat GPT to write this blog 😂 and trust me on this, but you can use this chatbot to help you generate ideas for your blog or any piece of content that you want to write. 

Next scenario, let's say you want 10 ideas for your kid's b'day celebration. It will give you some creative ideas within few seconds. This is one of the few sample examples that's already present in the system. I clicked on it and it gave me this response-

I also tested whether it can do the editing/proofreading of a piece of content and the result was decent. It's not something you can rely upon completely but it will save you a lot of time and effort for sure. Next thing I saw a question on Quora and wanted to answer that. But can I use Chat GPT to answer that? Just see for yourself.

The question was 'What are multi cap funds and is it a good time to invest?'

(Please click on the screenshots to expand it if you are viewing in your mobile)

Okay, so it has given me some information. But I want to elaborate this, so I request Chat GPT to elaborate it in detail. And surely it didn't disappoint me.

Now this definitely takes us to a debate of plagiarism that is genuine but I will talk about it in the later section of the blog. Let's see what other cool things you can do with this Chat GPT.

It can play games like Tic Tac Toe with you.

You can also play chess with Chat GPT. The only limitation is that since it's a text based model, it can not create a virtual chess board so you have to play with notations like e4,e5 etc. Now of course you need to keep a chess board open in side to keep track of the moves, unless you are a chess grandmaster who can play blindfold moves.

Another thing I tried whether it can write a poem on any topic I specify, so here is how it went, asked Chat GPT to write a poem on 'Monsoon'. 

You can see the rhyming with the last word in the second and last sentence of each stanza. (rain : again, sleep : keep etc.) That was quite impressive owing the fact it generated this poem in less than 20 seconds. One step further, I thought if it could write a kavita in Hindi also. (although this was not as impressive, it seemed as if it has just jumbled some words to create this)

So this was some of the basic things I tried with Chat GPT and I have been just using it for last 2 days. I am sure we could use this in many ways that could help us in our daily life, in business and work. And not to mention that it can write and debug any complex computer code in a matter of seconds. (I have heard this but didn't try it myself yet. Do let me know in the comments section if you have tried).

Now what impact could it have and in what fields could this be a game-changer? The first thing that comes to my mind is the education industry. I believe it will completely change the formula of education in the coming years. Kids of the coming generations will have access to a machine that can help them in their exam preparation, in their homeworks and assignments. This looks fascinating on the outside but it could have negative impacts also. I feel we would see either extremes of this technology, either it will create super smart kids or they will be super dumb. Because when you are too much dependent on sources like these, you won't use your brain. Now consider you are a student of tenth standard who has got 10 algebra problems to solve as homework. It's very easy and convenient for you to not wrack your brains around it because you have a smart solution now. Just feed the question to Chat GPT and it will give you the solution in seconds. Copy the solution in your notebook and you are done with your homework. At this stage, how many students will really care to understand the solution instead of simply copy pasting it is the main question here. 

Here, I simply googled an algebra problem and gave it to Chat GPT to solve. You can see the solution if the screenshot is properly visible.

This anyhow seems impressive right? But look at the solution carefully once. The more dangerous part here is that you can't rely on Chat GPT completely at this stage. I was also impressed with it but then I checked the solution and found it to be incorrect. (You can try it for yourself). So another concern here apart from plagiarism is that the accuracy is not very high at this stage and if you get 100% dependent on this AI model, you will definitely go wrong somewhere. 

Another field where we could use it is to write articles, e-content, or even blogs. Again, plagiarism is a common concern as of now but new softwares are coming up to detect whether a piece of article is written by a bot like chat GPT. I believe a better use of this AI model could be only to restrict it to generate ideas and not depend on it completely for a creative task like content creation. Also use Chat GPT for marketing and promotion of your content and in this way you can leverage the maximum benefit out of it without losing your control.

Chat GPT can also disrupt the tech industry in the coming years. While it is still uncertain how this will fold out, but one of the most obvious use cases will be creating a wide range of Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications, such as chatbots which have the potential to disrupt various industries by automating tasks that were previously done by humans, such as customer service and data analysis. Moreover, it could also be used to improve the performance of existing NLP models. 

To conclude, this is certainly a revolution in the field of tech and it is said that we have now entered the era of fourth industrial revolution, and this is going to be the era of data and artificial intelligence. The only thing we should keep in mind is not to enter into a dystopian future of technology, where technology can capture our senses and emotions. That will be a scary scenario for human race.

Beginning of 2023 with an adventurous trip to Karjat and camping at Pawna Lake !!

First of all, a very happy new year to all those reading this blog. Here, I will share my experience about my recent trip to Pawna Lake and Karjat, situated in Maharashtra at a distance of 114 kms from Pune. This trip was fun and adventurous at the same time, hope I can take you through that journey through this blog and I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed on this trip.

On 31st afternoon, we started off our journey from Pune to our destination, that was campside near Pawna lake. We had booked a camp there and our plan was to spend 31st night there. My friend Fareed had come from Delhi to accompany me on this trip. So we packed our bags and boarded the cab from Pune at around 3.15 PM. At that time, we were expecting to reach by 5.15 and the google map was also showing estimated time of 2 hrs. to reach the destination. But we didn't know our 31st evening was going to be filled with so much unexpected events.

When we were about 7.3 kms away from the destination, our car was stuck in traffic. There was a huge traffic jam on the one way road that would lead us to the destination. The google map was also showing huge congestion on the way ahead but still we were hopeful that the jam will be cleared soon. However, luck was not in our favour. Minutes turned into hours but our car was barely able to move forward. The driver suggested us to leave the cab at this point and go by walking. He anticipated that it would take at least 4 hours for our cab to reach the camps, taking into consideration the condition of the traffic jam. Initially, we refused to leave the cab but when the time kept ticking and it was already 5.30 PM, we accepted the fact that we had no other option. Travelling about 7 kms by walking was not an easy task at all. However, we left the cab and started walking, following the google maps.

We kept walking, taking some halts in between. The sun had already set and it was going dark. The road was also desolate and there were hardly any vehicles on the path where we were walking. The Google map was helping us to proceed towards our destination, but at one point, the network was lost. And to make things worse, we didn't have the exact name of the camp and the name of owner of the camp. We only had his contact number but it was of no use since there was no network. So we were unable to call him and ask him the exact location. At one point, the road split into two directions and we didn't know where to go. Following our instincts, we decided to follow a path and continued walking. But by this time, I was already worried how we would be able to reach our camps.

It was 7.00 PM now and by now, it was completely dark and we two were walking on a road which was completely desolate. The grave silence of the atmosphere was sometimes broken by the barking of dogs from somewhere and it created a haunted atmosphere. Somehow, we managed to reach the main road where again there was a huge traffic. We made our way through the vehicles and took a road that was expected to take us to our destination. In between, we confirmed the location through some of the locals present there. 

But soon, we realized that our problem was not yet solved. There were around hundreds of camps, in different directions and we didn't have the location because the Google map was not working. I had the screenshot of the address which the organizer had shared with me. I showed them to people around asking for help but no one could help us since it was a very generic address and no specific details was mentioned. At this point, I had completely lost hopes whether we would be able to reach our destination. My mind was busy thinking what to do in worst case scenario. What if we could never find our camp? What if we don't find a place to stay at night? All our plans of enjoying the new year eve had taken a backseat. Now the main concern was of somehow finding a place to stay. However, my friend was still optimistic and said that we have to check each and every camp and that was the only way out now.

We saw the first camp and went to a person who seemed to be the organizer. We only had the contact number with us. He saw the number and said this is not the camp we were looking for. When I asked him if we could get a tent here, he told that all the camps have been previously booked and there is no vacant tent now. Disappointed from there, we went to the next camp. And then one camp after another. Our hopes sank with each camp we visited. It was 8.00 PM by now and we had been walking continuously for 3 hrs by now. I was very tired, both physically and mentally. In between, we also kept trying contacting the owner, but there was no network in our mobile phones.

Now we only had the contact no. with us and we tallied this no with the contact number of each camp (which was mentioned on the board at the entrance of the respective camps). After checking around 10-15 different venues, we finally saw a board - 'Pawna Night camping'. With increased heartbeat, I matched the last 4 digits of the contact and to our relief, it was the same no we had in our contacts. Finally, by God's grace, we had reached the correct destination. It was around 8.30 PM and we had been walking continuously for more than 3 hours. We went to the person in charge and confirmed our booking. We were allotted tent no 2 which was a little cozy tent with blankets and pillows provided.

I was completely exhausted but the vibe of the place made me forget all the struggles we had faced for reaching here. All the pain was worth it finally. We were served barbeque chicken and cold drinks. After having snacks and taking rest for half an hour, we were energized and by that time, the DJ had also started. So it was time to hit the dance floor and celebrate this beautiful evening. We danced like crazy till 12.00 AM and enjoyed a lot. Finally when the celebrations ceased, we went inside our camps to sleep as we were very tired. This was how our new year eve turned out to be. No less than a thriller movie. But at the end, we were happy as we were able to celebrate as we had planned to.

The next morning, we woke up to a beautiful view of sunrise above the Pawna lake. While having our breakfast, we admired the view around us. The rays of the sun falling in the crystal clear water of the lake created a sparkling effect which was a treat to watch.

Our next plan was to take the train from Lonavala to go to Karjat, which is a hill station situated near Mumbai. We reached our hotel at around 4 in the evening. Our plan was to visit the Kondana caves on the same day but we realized we had very less time left for the day. So we spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching TV in our hotel room.

The next day i.e. 2nd Jan, we had our train at 6.30 PM from Karjat station to Pune. So we had a full day in our hands. In the morning, we checked out of our hotel at around 10.30 in the morning. The plan was to do a trek to the famous Kondana caves in Karjat and we had already booked a guide for the trek. So we took an auto and reached the base of the Kondane village where our guide was waiting for us. 

We started the trek and initially, it seemed to be an easy trek. But as we went halfway, we were extremely tired and the blazing sun added more to our misery. We took a long halt in between to recover ourselves. After taking rest for a while and drinking some water, we continued our journey. The trek was covered with trees and bushes all around and as the trek continued to become steep, we became more and more tired. Just at the entrance of the caves, I felt dizzy and sat at the stairs of the caves as it was getting difficult to walk even one inch forward now. Taking rest for a while, I somehow climbed the stairs to reach the top of the caves. The guide told us that this place was used by the Buddhist monks to meditate, around 2100 years ago. After roaming around and clicking pictures, we started our descend and this time, it was not as hard as it was climbing up. Finally we reached at the base from where we had started our trek, paid the guide and thanked him for helping us throughout the trek.

 

We still had 4 hours for our train but there was no other place we could visit in such a short duration so we decided to head straight to the railway station. We also had lunch and did some shopping before that. Finally our train arrived at 6.30 in the evening and we reached Pune in two hours. So that brought an end to our trip but the memories of this trip will always remain with us forever. I hope you have also enjoyed reading this blog and if you have any thoughts, please feel free to share in the comments. Once again, a very happy new year to all. May this year 2023 bring happiness and prosperity in each of our lives. 😊

Amritsar and Chandigarh Trip

Let me take you through our recent trip to Amritsar and Chandigarh which was filled with colors, fun and joy. This was a short trip but we enjoyed each and every moment of this four day trip. And our journey started with an experience that was no less than a thriller.

Our train from New Delhi to Amritsar was scheduled at 4.30 pm on 16th March. Me and my friend Ashish (who had come to my place earlier in the morning) had planned that we will book the cab at 2.45 and the cab will be at our place in 5-10 mins. Then it will take one hour to reach the railway station and we will reach there before 4.00 pm and we will have 30 mins in hand to board the train. The cab also arrived but the driver refused to go due to some issues. Then we had to cancel and book another cab. The next cab took 15-20 mins to arrive and by that time, it was already 3.15 pm. The expected arrival time at NDLS railway station was showing as 4.18 pm. That meant only 12 mins before the train would leave. The one hour in cab was very stressful as we were not sure if we would be able to catch the train. On top of that, one of my other friends Pankaj (who was also a part of this trip) called me and told that he had reached the railway station but there is a long queue at the gate to go inside. It was already 4.05 pm and we were still 1 km away from the railway station.

At that time, I lost all hopes and regretted thinking we should have left early. But nothing could be done now. The car was moving at snail's pace due to the traffic and even the driver said - 'Ap log ki train na pakdi jaye ab' (You won't be able to catch your train now). Amidst this panic situation, we reached the railway station at about 4.15 pm. The driver stopped the cab few miles away from the entrance and suggested that we should get down here because there was a traffic jam ahead. He also suggested us that we should take the help of coolie, give him some extra money and he may be able to take us through some shortcut route. That was the only possible way now to reach the platform on time.

So we took our luggage and rushed towards the entrance. By the time we reached the main gate, it was already 4.20 pm. That meant we had only 10 mins left before the train would leave the station. At the gate, we asked a coolie to take our luggage and also told him that we have our train in next 10 mins. There was a queue at the main entrance. It was not a very long queue but it would take 8-10 mins if we got in the queue and that meant missing our train. We looked towards the coolie in anticipation. He understood our concern and assured us that he will take us through a shortcut and we won't miss our train. As expected, he demanded 500 Rs. for taking us through the backdoor. We were not in a situation to negotiate as reaching the platform on time was the biggest concern for us. I quickly gave him a 500 note rupee and in 5 mins, we were standing in front of our C11 coach. I thanked him a lot for helping us in this situation where it seemed almost impossible to get to the train before 4.30. That was no less than a thriller for us, but by god's grace we had been able to get in the train just 5 mins before it's departure.

The six hour long journey was very comforting and relaxing and our AC chair car was also very comfortable. Without any hassles and in no time, our train reached Amritsar railway station after a 6 hour journey. We booked an auto and reached our hotel in 20 mins. After planning how our next day would be, we switched off the lights and went to sleep. That was the end of Day 1 of our trip.

The next day, we had planned to roam around Amritsar and visit all the iconic and famous places. So after getting ready, we stepped out for breakfast first. The receptionist at the hotel told us there is a famous dhaba here named Khalsa Kulchya wale which is famous for its chole-kulche. This dhaba is in 'baba deep singh colony', and it was at a walking distance from our hotel. We ordered three different types of kulcha (aloo, paneer and one special). They serve this with a plate of chole which is very spicy and delicious. It was really lip-smacking and the taste was simply superb. You can check out this place if you are in Amritsar and want to try their authentic Amritsari kulche.

After enjoying this delicious breakfast, we went towards our first destination that was Jallianwala Bagh. It was at a walking distance of 1.3 kms from our location so we simply followed the Google maps and reached the place. Basically there is a huge complex in which you can see not only Jallianwala Bagh but also Partition Museum, Golden Temple nearby, and enjoy a lot of street food. So first we went to see the Jallianwala Bagh which we have heard about and studied in our history books. The signs of the bullet marks where the bullets have penetrated the walls and the sight of the well in which so many people had to jump in order to avoid severe rounds of firing by the Britishers will make you feel the pain of the people who had to go through all this. It also has a gallery where you will get to know relevant information and history of that time.

Note - The bullet marks have been marked in white in the pic above. This wall had 26 bullet traces in total. The same information is written in a slate beside.

Next we went to the Partition Museum which is a museum that conveys the stories and incidents related to the post-partition riots that led to division of British India into two independent countries - India and Pakistan. If you are fond of history, this is a place that will satisfy your quench of knowledge and it feels we are back in that era of partition. Such is the vibes and atmosphere of that place.

Later, after having some refreshments like kesar lassi and ice cream, we took an auto and reached the Golden Temple. This place also needs no introduction and is a spiritual site of Sikhism. The view is also very beautiful and when the sunlight strikes the water, that is a sight to watch and capture in the eyes.

After seeing the Golden Temple, we hired a taxi and went to Wagah Border. So there are shared taxis that run from Golden Temple complex and they will take you to Wagah border and bring you back in the same taxi (200/- per head). So we reached Wagah border by 4.00 pm and took our seat in the stands. There is a parade and flag hoisting ceremony by both the countries and there is a very patriotic vibe when the BSF jawans do the parade and also cheer the crowd to chant 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. After this half an hour ceremony, we returned to our hotel in the same taxi.

After taking some rest for a while, we went to the Golden temple again at night and the temple complex was a treat to watch at night with amazing lighting. We also had langar inside which was another enriching experience for everyone of us.

Note - The actual sight was way more beautiful than it looks in the picture.

Finally we returned back to our hotel at about 11.00 pm and that marked the end of Day 2 of our trip.

The next day, it was the festival of Holi we had our pre booked cab from Amritsar to Chandigarh. For breakfast, we again went for Amritsari chole kulche (from a different restaurant this time). The cab arrived at about 9.20 AM and we started our road trip to Chandigarh. The total distance of 229 kms was covered in almost 3.5 hours and we reached our hotel in Chandigarh at about 1.00 pm. After relaxing for a while, we got ready and went to the famous Rock Garden which was at 20 min drive from our hotel. Rock Garden is a famous sculpture garden which is made out of industrial waste. The sculptures in the rock garden are made from recycled ceramic. It's a beautiful place and a place where you can capture your next Insta pic. 😀 I got mine!!

After roaming around the rock garden, we went to Sukhna Lake that is another famous place in Chandigarh. The occasion of Holi added more colors to this already beautiful place. Several people including college students and local people gather here to play Holi and almost everyone's face there was smeared with gulal and abeer. I wished we also had some colors to apply to each other's faces. Just then as were roaming around, a random person came and wishing us Happy Holi, he applied gulal on our faces. Such is the vibes of Chandigarh that people are so welcoming and jovial. That day, it was a full party like atmosphere at that place, with young guys and girls enjoying Holi and dancing in their own way. It was so good to see this, specially after these two years of Covid and implied restrictions in our lives.

After having our fun time at Sukhna lake, we decided to visit Elante Mall of Chandigarh and spend the rest of our day there. We played games like bowling and enjoyed VR experience at Pyramid - which is a gaming complex. Later, we had buffet at one of the restaurants and headed back to our hotel. This marked the end of Day 3 of our trip. A pic of Elante Mall -

The next day, we had our train from Chandigarh to New Delhi at 12.15 pm and we reached New Delhi in almost 3 hours. So that marked the end of this amazing trip. Special thanks to my friends Ashish and Pankaj for being a part of this trip and making it a memorable one. 

Please do comment your views if you liked reading this blog. Till next time, keep travelling and keep exploring life.

MEMORIES OF 2021

Whooa!! Another year passed away so quickly. I was just reading my previous blog (about memories of 2020) today and I realized it's time to write another blog when 2022 is just round the corners. Certainly 2021 was special from a global and historical point of view with the world continuing its fight with the ongoing pandemic through the global vaccination drive, Tokyo Olympics being held finally amidst the cloud of uncertainty, some crucial reforms being made in the Indian politics like the introduction of farmers law, the ongoing protest that followed and finally the law being withdrawn due to the criticism and backlash it faced. While keeping all the buzz and noise aside for a moment, this year was special for me also personally. Although some of the days were challenging emotionally, but I feel 2021 went smoother for me as compared to 2020. So going as per the title of the blog and as I see this year in retrospective, I would like to share a brief insight about how this year went for me.

The year started with a bang on when I got an offer letter from Infosys on 1st Jan. At that time, I was in TCS and I had given quite a few interviews in the last quarter of 2020 for different companies. Now if you follow me on Quora and read my answers there, you must be knowing why I was so desperate to make a switch. Anyways, the first day of the new year itself brought that joy and happiness which I was searching for. So I was ready to welcome 2021 now with open arms and was looking forward to the entire year.

Fast forward to 25th March, it was my last day in TCS. Leaving your first company is always emotional and overwhelming, no matter how good or bad your experience has been there, and same was the case with me. But I was primarily looking forward to the 15 days gap that I got before joining Gartner. (I had an offer letter from Gartner also and my joining date in Gartner was 12th April) The festival of Holi was also round the corners so I instantly made plans to go to visit my relatives place in Allahabad. And that was a refreshing break that was really needed. The one week trip was fun and fulfilling for me, while the stage was being set for the Covid to wreak its havoc in the coming days. However, I returned home safely just few days before the second wave of pandemic started in India. Some of the glimpses of that Allahabad trip-

Flight to Allahabad ->

Rang Barse ......

Me with my Mausi and cousin brother ->

The 'Work From Home' continued from my new company also and the second quarter was challenging for all of us with almost every household being affected by Covid and bad news floating all over. Amidst all this, I had completed the first draft of my book which I was writing since Dec 2019. After finalizing the publisher, I sent all the details to them and for next one month, I was also involved with reviewing the edits and final drafts which were ultimately going to take the shape of a paperback version.

In last month of June, also got a chance to attend the World Quora Meetup 2021 held virtually.

Finally the day came when my book 'Delusional Horror' was officially released on Amazon, Flipkart and a few other online book stores. That's a different feeling altogether when you hold your own book in your hands for the first time and inspite of being a writer, I can not describe that feeling here in words. This was one of the factors that made 2021 memorable for me.

By the way, if you have not read the book yet, go to Amazon and purchase it now. The paperback version is available at 50% discount and there is no better way to end the year than reading a horror book. 😀

Finally I came to Gurgaon in September end and it was endearing to meet with friends after such a long gap. The times had changed, the world had turned upside down in these one and a half years but we had the same equation and vibes and that was what I had been missing the most. 

In the long weekend of Dussehra, we (four of us friends) went on a trip to Rishikesh. I had written a separate blog on this Rishikesh trip and you can check that out. The 3 day trip was quick and filled with fun and excitement. We did river rafting and it was one thing that was on my bucket list since a long time. 

River Rafting ->

Recently, also got a chance to meet my office colleagues for the first time face to face, during a buffet lunch organized at Pirates of Grill in Gurgaon. 

I had decided to celebrate new year in Mcleodganj and we had done all the bookings for our four day trip to Himachal from 31 Dec - 4th Jan. But unfortunately, we had to cancel it due to the increasing risk of Omicron variant in the country and the curfews and restrictions being imposed in various states. So no plans now for New Year. The most I will do is just order a pizza and coke and enjoy it all alone by myself on 31st night. 🙁

When I see this year in hindsight, I feel there could be many things that I might have done better. There were some things done right and some things didn't really go the way as I had planned. But that's the part and parcel of life after all. Just as 2021 is about to end, I would like to thank everyone who supported me in any way, directly or indirectly. At the same time, I would also like to apologize if I had hurt anyone intentionally or unintentionally. As I retrospect on some thoughts that have been lately occupying my mind, I would wish everyone a Happy New Year 2022. To all those who are reading this blog, wishing you a very happy and prosperous upcoming year filled with lots of love and happiness.

Trip To Rishikesh

The last 1.5 years had been very frustrating for me and for most of us due to the havoc caused by the pandemic which had made our lives monotonous and it seemed as if the whole world had been slowed down by an invisible force. But as they say, there is a ray of light always at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark the tunnel is. Thankfully, things are coming back on track now with the fast pace of vaccination all over the world and specially in India. Travel and tourism has resumed, at least within India and I was looking forward to a break to relax and rejuvenate my mind. The long weekend of Dussehra came as a blessing in disguise when one of my friends suggested that we should make the most of this weekend and go on a road trip.

Two more friends came on board and instant plans were made to visit Rishikesh in the 3 day long weekend. As one of our friends in our group had his own car, we were pretty much sorted with our road trip. Rafting was the main excitement of our trip and it was the only thing I was looking forward to. Initially, I thought to book hotel rooms like OYO for our 2 night stay in Rishikesh. Just before 4-5 days of our trip, someone suggested me that we should confirm whether rafting is going on in this season because of the monsoons, and even if it's there, we should do the bookings in advance. This seemed to be a sensible advice and I started searching randomly on the internet if I could get any details about rafting and its prebooking.

I found the contact number of a tour operator and contacted him. This again turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he not only confirmed that rafting would be absolutely possible, but also informed that his company provides a package which includes camping, food and rafting as well (all inclusive in the package). Till now, we hadn't given a thought about camping but this idea excited me. I knew camping would be more fun as I had already experienced it in Munnar in Kerala and it was a moment-to-be-cherished kind of experience. So finally we booked the package which was 3400 per head (this included accommodation and food for 2 day stay in camps, rafting as well as car parking).

On 15th October, we started our road trip at 6.00 AM in the morning. The road trips are always fun when you are with your friends and this trip was no exception. The long distance was covered before we realized and we were finally in Rishikesh at about 3.00 PM in the afternoon. It took us some time to drive to our Shiv Ganga Nature Camp. The camps were comfortable and the view from there was amazing, with a swimming pool just beside our camp. 

After having lunch, we put our chairs outside and enjoyed the scenic vibes of that place. I couldn't have wished for something better and we just sat there, chilling and relaxing. After some time, we went for a walk nearby where we saw the mountain ranges from more proximity. There was not much scope of going anywhere since it was getting dark and driving back to our camp at night would have been riskier at such a place. So we came back to our camp and what I observed simply blew my mind. The place looked even more mesmerizing with decorative lights, live music being played and amazing vibes. We enjoyed the lively evening with snacks, good food and even better music. I can now say with conviction that even if you simply do camping and nothing else, you will enjoy in a way that you could not even think of, if you haven't done it before.

The next morning, we got up early, freshened up and got ready to go for the adventure which we all were looking forward to - river rafting. Before coming here, I had watched several videos of rafting on YouTube and it seemed more scary than fun. But what is the meaning of life if we don't experience thrills and adventure sometimes. We reached the location and waited patiently for 2 hours before we were ready to onboard our boats. The guide gave us all the necessary instructions and ensured us that every safety precaution was being taken. Still, my nervousness increased as the countdown started. The guide gave us life jackets and helmet, and the oars for rowing the boat. Everyone occupied their positions and started rowing as per the instructions of our guide. It was fun initially before the guide told us that there would be three rapids coming where the flow of the water would be so strong that the boat can even turn upside down. (Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence). For a moment, I thought why I had decided to do rafting in the first place. But it was too late to think about it. I heard the voice of our guide instructing us to row the boat as quickly as possible since we were approaching the rapids. 

In those turbulent waves, our boat started shaking violently while I held the rope in between as I felt the boat is going to turn anytime soon. But thankfully, nothing like that happened and we passed the first two rapids in succession. The third rapid was the most thrilling with the cold waves splashing across our face continuously. Our guide also took a few photos and videos meanwhile with his Go Pro camera attached on his helmet. The enthusiasm was at the peak when we crossed all the three rapids and that adrenaline rush I felt was something which I had been missing since a long time. Finally the 12 km stretch was covered in almost one hour and we reached the shore. We collected the photos and videos from the guide and paid him for that. Since we were all drenched in water, we decided to go back to our camps and change our clothes.

After having lunch at the camp, we got ready and proceeded towards our next destination that was 'Shri Neelkanth Mahadev Mandir'. The path to the destination was very beautiful with lush greenary on both sides of the road and the mountain ranges visible at a far distance. We reached the Neelkanth Mandir at about 5.00 in the evening. This mandir is dedicated to 'Nilkanth' (an aspect of Lord Shiva). The temple architecture is very much influenced by the Dravidian style of temple architecture and I felt a divine presence in that place. After spending about one hour there, we proceeded back to our camps since it was already getting dark. This night was no different than the previous one with DJ, party vibes and decorative lights all over the place in our camps. (You can see us dancing to the tunes of music in the video below 😄)

We finally went to sleep after having our dinner as we had to leave this place early morning the following day. At midnight, the weather became turbulent and it started raining heavily and the temperature dropped a bit. Luckily we were given cosy blankets by our camps so we slept comfortably amidst this turbulent weather.

The next morning, we started our journey back to Delhi from Rishikesh and the return trip was even more amazing due to the pleasant weather. We stopped at Laxman Jhula in our way and spent some time there. Basically, it's a 450-ft long iron suspension bridge constructed over the Ganga river. As per Hindu mythology, this bridge was originally built by Lakshman while he crossed the river on jute ropes. Later in 1923, this was reconstructed and made stronger by iron rods. The bridge is always packed with tourists, with people taking selfies amidst the mesmerizing background. We had to make our way to reach the other side. The pleasant weather and wind blowing added more calm to the soothing atmosphere.

After visiting Laxman Jhoola and spending some time there, we left Rishikesh with lots of sweet memories. After one or two halts for having lunch and snacks, we finally reached Gurgaon at about 7.00 in the evening. I said goodbye to my friends and came back to my room. 

This was a much needed break to rejuvenate our mind and soul and it brought a relief to the otherwise hectic schedule of our day-to-day life. This journey came to an end but I brought back lots of good memories and enriching experiences. It is these little moments of joy which add meaning to our lives after all. 😊

Do let me know in the comments section if you liked reading this blog. Till we meet next time, keep reading, keep travelling and keep enjoying life.....

MEMORIES OF 2020

Well, who wants to keep 2020 in their memories? 😐 Definitely, not me. This was the most unexpected, challenging and dark year for all of us. Still, we were in a much better position than those people who lost their lives, their jobs, and those who had to strive hard to make a living due to the lockdown post this pandemic. So our own miseries are nothing compared to those people who were not so fortunate like us. But having said that, this year was not even close to what we may have planned or imagined, when we were busy celebrating 2020 new year eve. And the harsh fact is that we may like it or hate it, but we can't erase this year from either our memory or from the calendar.

As 2020 is at the verge of end and we are entering into 2021 with conditions still not in control, with the rumours of third wave of Corona hitting Europe and a new form of this virus found in Britain, there does not seem to be any hope of things returning back to normal at least for next 3-4 months. But when there is darkness and gloom all over, even a single ray of light is all we need to find a way out of the dark. And for me, the ray of light is the memories and moments from the past which give me a reason to smile. In this blog, I would like to rewind my memory and recall a few incidents or moments which may not classify to be 'memories', but it's all I need to smile and sail through these dark 'uncharted waters'. So I am going to close my eyes, introspect and just do a small recap of 2020 (in chronological order) 🙂

The year started with a bang, with a few birthday parties with friends in the first two months, exploring a few new cuisines and restaurants in Gurgaon and of course planning for our future trips😂 (without having the slightest idea what the future had in place). 

Some pics from Jan-Feb 2020:

At one of the B'day parties- (It was one of the last outings with my office friends)

  

One casual dinner night at Harish Bakery-

      

I visited my hometown for 3-4 days in early March on the occasion of Holi. By that time, there were a few initial cases of Corona in India also but no one had anticipated the gravity of the situation at that time. Anyways, I returned back to Gurgaon after Holi and by that time, we were getting some guidelines from the company that offices may close for some time and work from home would continue for next few days. And the same happened. It had been hardly one week going to office after coming back when we got the notice that WFH would be there till 31st March. Everyone seemed to be happy and excited thinking about it. And then came the announcement of 'Janta-Curfew' on 22/23 March followed by 14 days lockdown. And then the rest is history. 

I was lucky that I was at least at my relative's place when the lockdown was announced and not in my PG. Me along with my sister and Bua-ji, (who had come for a week's visit to Delhi but she was stuck there due to all the transportation services being shut down during the lockdown) had to spent more than three months there. But there was an emotional support also for me since that was like an almost home. After the working hours, we used to go for a walk in the park of our society in the evening, to relax and to break the monotony of similar routine every day. There were a few bright moments in that otherwise dull period which I would like to share 🙂

Celebrating Didi's B'day (17 April 2020)

 

Trying my hands in pizza making

 

Home made pizza 😋

I did not want to share this pic but still sharing. Please don't laugh! 😁 This was the effect of lockdown-

Finally I came to my hometown Gorakhpur in the first week of July. Initially it felt so good to be at home but later as the days passed, life turned out to be dull and monotonous and is still the same. But still I have tried to keep myself calm and composed and found ways to deal with these tough times to some extent. When there was a complete cut off from our social life, video calls and online meetups turned out to be blessing in disguise. One such event was the Online World Quora Meetup which was held across the globe virtually, in the month of August.

From the Online World Quora Meetup

I also got time to read quite a few books this year. Just checked the stats on https://www.goodreads.com/book. (If you are a book lover like me, this is a very good website for keeping a track of the books you have read, including the dates. You could write reviews of the books you have read and many more such things) 

These are the 8 books I have read in 2020-

From this list, I would like to recommend two books to anyone who is interested in reading novels-

1- You Are The Best Wife by Ajay K Pandey: If you are tired of reading clichéd cheesy romantic novels, you could not have a better option than this. A highly underrated book which is full of emotions and it's based on the real life story of the author himself. Ajay and his wife were college sweethearts who got finally married to each other after a lot of obstacles. When everything seemed sorted and going well, destiny showed its cruel side and Bhavna (his wife) got diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately she lost the battle against death after being in coma for few days. While the first half of the novel is full of sweet and innocent romance, the second half gets too heavy to read it till the end. The rawness and purity of emotions which the writer had poured out makes this novel an outstanding one, despite of the fact that he is not a professional author and this was his debut novel.

2-  Dark Matter by Blake Crouch: This one is of sci-fi genre and is one of the best sci-fi I have read so far. This novel explores the hypothetical concept of multiple dimensions of the universe and how it could have affected our lives if we could also achieve superposition of states similar to the quantum particles. This book completely blows your mind and the fast pace of the story keeps you hooked till the end. 

Meanwhile I also went to Gurgaon finally to pick up the rest of my belongings from there (Knowing that going back to normal does not seem likely for the next 4-6 months).

This pic just in front of my PG before saying final goodbye-

Another casual pic when we were tired after playing badminton 😄 (Me with my brother)-

  

Yeah, this was all about it, glimpses of 2020 for me. 🙂 So, what was your own most memorable moment from this year? Do write it in the comments. Let's hope that 2021 turns out to be more fruitful and prosperous for each one of us. On that note, wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! 😊